Prajwol Bickram Rana is a 21-year old student at the Kathmandu School of Law. Growing up in Kathmandu, he says he has “seen and felt climate change” at first hand: he talks of the masks he and his friends have to wear on days of bad air pollution, as well as of the floods in 2018 that left parts of Kathmandu under water and were reflective of changing rainfall patterns in Nepal due to climate change.

In September 2019, Prajwol took part in My Mark: My City, organising an event for twenty friends at the Kathmandu School of Law. The group split into teams that focused on different areas of sustainability in Kathmandu, such as pollution in the rivers in the Kathmandu Valley and deforestation due to recent road-building initiatives.

Prajwol himself was particularly interested in the question of environmental laws in Nepal, and the gap that can exist between a law’s existence and its implementation. In the future, Prajwol hopes to become a lawyer who can focus on environmental issues and make sure that national environmental laws are properly applied. His ultimate dream is to become a judge.

Taking Action Now

Alongside his long-term ambitions, Prajwol and his friends are also working on tangible actions that they can take now. “At the end of our event, we have determined that we will push our university to use different dustbins, so that we have a better recycling system for the canteen waste and student buildings.”

Imagine if we could support and connect thousands more people like Prajwol, all potential changemakers in communities around the world.